Review: Rush – Grace Under Pressure (1984)

Grace Under Pressure is Rush’s 10th studio album.

Formed in 1968, Rush began their career playing a mixture of hard rock and progressive rock. To put it a little more bluntly, the trio’s style, which released its debut album in 1974, was for a long time somewhere between Led Zeppelin and Yes. However, at the turn of the 80s, Rush began to streamline their music. The songs became shorter and more pop-influenced. Hand in hand with this development, the use of synthesizers also increased steadily.

The whole band stood behind the new pop style, but the latter change caused friction within the band. Guitarist Alex Lifeson became anxious about his own role being reduced as the synthesizers played by bassist Geddy Lifeson ate up more and more of the band’s sound. The usually harmonious and harmonious trio became so badly divided around the time of Signals that the band was close to breaking up. After Signals the trio decided to make a corrective move towards guitars, and on Grace Under Pressure the guitars take a slightly more equal place with the synths, although in some ways the album is even more synthetic.

With Grace Under Pressure, Rush is undergoing a major upheaval in the support team. Terry Brown had produced all the band’s albums since 1975’s Fly By Night, and Brown had been a competent and welcome collaborator, but by Signals it had become clear that the foursome’s visions were no longer fully aligned. Like Lifeson, Brown was not enthusiastic about the new synthesizer-driven line, nor did he support the new pop trend. Rush felt that Brown’s contribution to Signals was too passive and decided to look for a producer who would bring in fresh air and new inspiration. Brown did not achieve as much success in his career as he had with Rush, but produced many excellent albums and collaborated for a long time with another progressive band, Fates Warning.

Hunting for a new producer proved to be a surprisingly big challenge. Rush looked mainly to the UK, courting trendy producers with a more artistic approach to their work than average, but with a track record of commercial success. Our Canadian trio approached Rupert Hine, Trevor Horn, Peter Collins and Steve Lilywhite, among others. Somewhat surprisingly, Yes bassist Chris Squire was also discussed. The first two gave Rush the brush-off outright (Hine would change his mind some years later…) and the talks with the others didn’t go very well either. Although Rush had achieved considerable success with Moving Pictures, the band was still extremely unfashionable and many trendy producers were shy about working with Rush or simply not interested in their music.

The pre-arranged start date for the recordings was already looming on the horizon when an agreement was reached with Steve Lilywhite. Lilywhite was a hot up-and-coming talent, having recently worked with U2 and Simple Minds. However, Lilywhite eventually pulled out two weeks before the recording sessions, announcing that he didn’t want to work with Rush after all. Producer interviews were quickly restarted and the dice were finally cast on Peter Henderson, who had previously worked with Supertramp, who like Rush operate somewhere between pop and prog. In practice, Henderson was a bit insecure in the studio and I understand that Rush was not particularly happy with his choice in the end. Henderson’s influence on Grace Under Pressure was minimal and he did not work with Rush again.

Read also: Review: Rush – Permanent Waves (1980)

In addition to the new producer, there was another new entity in the studio. Neil Peart’s electric drums. It’s understandable that progressive musicians want to try out new toys and gadgets, but in the early 80s, electric drums were still a work in progress. They tended to sound often coldly clattering and frankly dead (in fact, they often still do in the 2020s…). For example, the otherwise excellent drummer Pip Pyle failed miserably with electric drums on National Health’s D.S. al Coda. There were some successes. On King Crimson’s 80s albums, Bill Bruford’ s electric drums sound appropriately exotic and futuristic as part of the band’s already dramatically renewed style. And even if Peart’s experiments with electric drums were not as wild and innovative as Bruford’s, his contribution also belongs to the short success column of electric drums.

The early 80s were a tense time. The Cold War was at its height and the threat of nuclear war loomed over humanity, among many other problems. Rush has said that Grace Under Pressure was mainly inspired by the burning issues of the day, which Peart picked up from the news to write his lyrics. The result was a rather dark album with a loose theme dealing with issues and situations that put people under great pressure. At its most upbeat, this means the pressures that every human being faces in pursuit of big dreams in ”The Enemy Within” and at its darkest, the prison tale of ”Red Sector A”, which depicts a Holocaust-like genocide and the extreme pressure that one is put under when one is stripped of all human dignity by another.

The album opens with a round and inviting bass guitar track. Soon, the staccato synths kick ”Distant Earl Warning” into high gear. Lee sings with understated authority and Lifeson’s electric guitar zigzags around a vocal track warning of nuclear war. The intensity builds towards the chorus and Lee’s vocals take on a more passionate edge. There is a hint of reggae in the sound, but only a hint. Lifeson plays a short solo until it is assaulted by synthesizer hits and we return to the chorus. ”Distant Earl Warning” is a very effective start to the album.

The next track ”Afterimage” explodes into the air with a bang and no intro whatsoever. It’s as if we jump into the middle of the story while it’s already well underway. A bit like the beginnings of the old James Bond movies where you jump in the middle of the ongoing action and then 007’s next mission begins. The synthesizer bassline growls and pumps very low frequencies and Lifeson’s electric guitar glides in counterbalance in the high stratosphere. The seductive ne-ne-ne-ne-neee melody played by the electric guitar in the verses is fun. In the middle of the track there is an effective chilling section where the bass pumps steadily while the guitar and synthesizer play momentarily abstract patterns and Peart accentuates with his electric drums until the track returns to the ne-ne-ne-neee theme.

”Red Sector A” is kicked off by Lifeson’s sharp electric guitar chords and a helicopter-like sequenced rhythm track that’s reinforced by Peart’s electric drums. In ”Red Sector A” the electric drums are given plenty of space. The song has a menacing and downright sci-fi feel. On a casual listen, the lyrics, sung by Lee in an appropriately desperate voice, references to prison gates transport the imagination to some kind of dystopian future. On closer inspection, however, rather than a mere science fiction picture, the real subject of the song is far more tragic. Indeed, the lyrics refer to the concentration camps of the Second World War where the Nazis exterminated people on an industrial scale. The song was inspired by the experiences of Lee’s mother, who was of Jewish background and one of the lucky ones to survive the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. An impressive song that does justice to a serious subject without falling into clichés. ”Red Sector A” is one of the absolute highlights of the album.

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”The Enemy Within” is the most upbeat track on the album, even though it is part of the four-part ”Fear” series that began at Moving Pictures. Somewhat confusingly, it is the first in the series! The song features a nice rolling bass pattern and a successful chorus, which Lee sings a bit weakly, but ”The Enemy Within” is not up there with the best on the album.

”The Body Electric”, which starts the B-side of the album, returns to the sci-fi atmosphere and this time the lyrics also match the electronically pulsating and banging soundtrack. The lyrics are about an android on the run, and for me at least, it reminds me of the Blade Runner movie inspired by Philip K. Dick’s book, where human-like robots, or androids, run away from bounty hunters for their ”lives”. On the other hand, its reference to the ”mother of all machines” also reminds me of Yes’ Machine Messiah from the Drama album. The nerd points of ”The Body Electric” are raised by the binary number repeated in the chorus.

1-0-0-1-0-0-1
S.O.S.
1-0-0-1-0-0-1
In distress
1-0-0-1-0-0

The number 1001001 in the ASCII code equals ”I”, meaning ”me”, so here the poor andoid is clearly signalling that he is in trouble. Perhaps the self-awareness suggests that he (it?) is trying to escape, not from humans, but from other machines that have not yet reached consciousness. This interpretation would fit well with Peart’s general theme of lyrics where the individual rises above the masses.

In the middle of ”The Body Electric” there’s a nice more freeform section where Lee’s bass guitar is allowed to really growl for a moment. Too bad the passage doesn’t last longer. It culminates nicely with Peart’s drums kicking the band into gear and the trio playing with more and more intensity. ”The Body Electric” is an excellent song. Perhaps Grace Under Pressure’s best.

”The Body Electric” kicked off the B-side nicely, but unfortunately the last three songs on the album don’t quite live up to the songs we’ve already heard.

”Kid Gloves”, like ”The Enemy Within”, represents the lighter and more straightforward side of the album. In this song Peart’s electric drums sometimes sound a little plasticky, but Lifeson’s enthusiastic soloing and generally energetic approach keeps the song above the surface, even if it’s the least of the album’s gifts in my opinion. ”Kid Gloves” is the rock song of the album, but unfortunately it doesn’t really take off at any point.

The penultimate song on the album, ”Red Lenses”, gives way to Peart’s electric drums again. They really carry this slightly odd song and Peart sometimes plays the pads melodically in a Bruford style. The song sounds for a long time almost like a duet between Peart and Lee, so small is Lifeson’s role, but in the rhythmic section towards the end, reminiscent of Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe’s ”Teakboys” (1989), the guitar at least buzzes along a little. Peart also plays a little drum solo on his new toys. ”Red Lenses” is a curious experiment that may not quite work, but at least adds a nice little variation to the album.

On the final track ”Between The Wheels” Lifeson comes to life again. The song, which begins with an oppressive synth chorus, is soon backed by Lifeson’s biting guitar, which alternately buzzes and wails impressively. Unfortunately, ”Between The Wheels” ends up being a somewhat bland anthem that seems to strive for a fatal mood without ever quite reaching it. At least in the C section, a nice energy is built up, buoyed by Lifeson’s frantic guitar solo.

Although the B-side of Grace Under Pressure is not up to the first half of the album, I do not judge any of the songs as bad, despite my criticism. Even ”Kid Gloves” has its moments. To some extent, however, the album is a little flat. The songs are all about five minutes long and also move in roughly the same range in terms of tempo. There are no slow, ballad-like songs, nor are there any upbeat ”YYZ”-style romps. The instrumentation is all electric (no acoustic guitars on the album) so there are no big contrasts or variations there either. Despite its overall quality, Grace Under Pressure already shows signs of what I felt would be a problem for Rush’s music in the future; predictability and a certain homogeneity. In their own minds, Rush certainly tried to write perfect pop/rock songs, but I think they ended up being trapped in the format by following it too slavishly.

In my own books, Rush never reached greatness except in moments and the excellent Grace Under Pressure has the honour of being the last album of Rush’s golden era that began with Permanent Waves.

Best tracks: ”Distant Early Warning”, ”Afterimage” ”Red Sector A”, ”The Body Electric”

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Author: JANNE YLIRUUSI

Tracks

”Distant Early Warning” 4:56
”Afterimage” 5:04
”Red Sector A” 5:10
”The Enemy Within” (Part I of ”Fear”) 4:33
”The Body Electric” 5:00
”Kid Gloves” 4:18
”Red Lenses” 4:42
”Between the Wheels” 5:44

Rush

Geddy Lee: bass guitar, synthesizers, vocals Alex Lifeson: guitars, synthesizers Neil Peart: drums, percussion, electronic percussion